Like It Used to Be
by lilBlondi
Summary: Link has been overwhelmed with the changes in his life since seven years ago. He goes to the only person who knows him well enough to be able to help...without having to say much. Maybe happiness will smile on him again. One Shot


Sorry to everyone for this short one-shot oddity. I was feeling really down the other day and I was pretty stressed out. I've been having problems at school and having to take entrance exams for high school next year so I've been in a bit of a rut. This is just kinda how I was feeling so I just had to put poor Link through the same crap I'm going through…only he has a shoulder to cry on…lucky fool, he is. Anyhoo, enjoy! Or at least pretend to for my sake! Love you all!

* * *

One of those days, that's what it was, just one of those days. The Hero of Time could feel it in his heart. The kind of sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that refuses to go away no matter how many times you tell yourself that everything's okay. The feeling had been afflicting him for a couple of days straight despite the glorious weather and blissful sunlight flooding the landscape of Hyrule.

Link had made up his mind. If he didn't get the weight off his chest soon he might go mad. There was only one person left who would listen to him now.

He strolled through the familiar scenery of the Kokiri village, taking in the welcoming fresh air. This was most likely the only place that he'd ever felt at home, regardless that it wasn't where he truly belonged. He forced a gentle smile as his eyes landed on the familiar tree house lying in the middle of the village with a dilapidated curtain of a door hanging from the frame and the overgrown vines winding up the ladder. He never came back to it anymore so he had gladly let an old friend take it up as her home. He knew that he would be unexpected but if he weren't the air would be uncomfortable between them.

He climbed up the old ladder and took in the view before pushing through the tattered curtain that he had affixed so many years ago. Any hope that he held suddenly slipped from his face as he found the house empty. He sighed. It was just like her to leave when he wanted to talk to her. _She'll be back later._ He concluded.

To his surprise nothing looked any different than he remembered it. Despite the home have been take over by a new occupant nothing had changed at all. The same small table lied in the middle and various small pots lined the walls with trinkets and stashes of money stored in them. He smiled and flopped down upon his old bed. He was much too tall to be laying in it now but it didn't bother him.

He figured that his old friend would be back sooner or later and dozed off despite his uneasy mood.

The next thing he knew, the hero was being called to from out of his sleep.

"Link," cooed a small voice. He knew who it belonged to and subconsciously smiled as he awoke. The green-haired Kokiri girl, who had doubled as the forest sage for a few years stroked his arm.

"Link, what are you doing here?" She asked of him. Link's eyes fluttered open as he sat up in the much too small bed. He smiled, not only was the house the same but so was the forest sage. "Why didn't you warn me that you were coming?"

"I'm sorry Saria," he apologized, bowing his head, "I just wanted to talk." The girl gave him a lopsided look. He could tell from her face that she didn't know how to respond. Saria was most likely the most mature person he knew besides Zelda. She was mature, undoubtedly, but she was still young and her emotions were easily betrayed upon her face.

"I'm sorry, I could have warned you but," he began uneasily. "I just wanted to ask you, has…has anything changed for you since seven years ago?" He knew as soon as the question left his mouth that it didn't make sense but one of the things he'd discovered over the years was that there is no way to take back the things you say.

"I don't know. What do you mean? Of course things have changed. I'm now the forest sage and now you're never around. Lots of things have changed, why do you ask?" Saria searched his face for an answer. He'd grown up so much since all those years ago. He was older and he'd been out in the world. He wasn't the sheltered young boy she once knew. Despite her young appearance, Saria was truly many years older than her old companion. She had known him since he was just a small child.

"It's just that life has changed since that day that the Deku Tree summoned me to the inner forest. I became the Hero of Time and I went through so many things that I had never even imagined. Things that I know I wasn't ready for. Saving Zelda, facing the Ganondorf, becoming a man, I was still young at heart and I never should have done all the things I did. I just think that my life was a big dream that I've never woken up from." Link explained. For the first time, Saria could read his face like a book. She could see confusion in his eyes and despite the way he looked now, she could see that he was still a child inside. He'd been forced to grow up before he'd been ready for it.

She sat down beside him and placed her hand on his head like he was some sort of small pet and she removed his hat to set it on the bed beside her. She reached up and ruffled his hair.

"Is that all you wanted to say? Is there something else bothering you?" She asked. The hylian shook his head.

"That's all," he confirmed. He had thought that telling everything to Saria would make him feel better but the boy figured that he must've been wrong. He only felt worse for bothering her and felt no relief in his chest.

Without warning tears welled up behind his eyes. He quickly reached up and scrubbed his eyes with balled fists but not before Saria had noticed. She sighed. She had known that something like this would happen someday. Growing up like he did just wasn't the way things were supposed to happen, it wasn't right.

"Link," she began, tilting her head so she could see his downcast eyes, "you don't have to keep all that walled up inside, all right? Tell me what else is bothering you." Link nodded like a small child being persuaded and laid back down on the bed. He rested his head on Saria's head and began to talk..

"I just wish everything could go back to the way it was. The biggest thing I used to have to worry about was avoiding Mido and not getting picked on. Now everything's different, Sure, I did everything I have to but now I have a duty. It's my job to protect this place and if I screw up then it's entirely my fault. What if I mess up? Will Ganondorf come back? Will all the people I care about die?" As if changing his mind the boy sat back up and looked at his best friend. "I don't want to lose all the people who I care about." Tears began to streak down the boy's face. This time though, he didn't bother hiding it. _How shameful, pull yourself together!_ He scolded himself mentally but it didn't help.

They ran down his cheeks, staining them red like blood and turned his face to a pitiful sight. Like liquid sadness, they rolled like all the times he'd wanted to cry but hadn't. Like when the Deku Tree withered, when Zelda ran from the castle with her bodyguard Impa, when he confronted Gannon, each time he'd felt like crying with helplessness but had kept it all inside.

Saria saw him battling inside himself and wondered what could cause such a young spirited boy to feel so much pain? She reached for his face and pulled his head onto her shoulder. His arms hung limp at his sides as he cried into her like a small child who'd scraped his knee.

"I'm…I…" he tried to explain between sobs.

"It's alright," she cooed, running her fingers through his hair and stroking his back.

"I'm sorry…" he finally choked out. "I'm sorry for everything that everyone's had to go through…because of me."

Saria pushed the boy back down upon his old bed and laid a blanket over his shoulders gently.

"You can sleep now." He was already far off. Far away in his subconscious, even there, though, Saria had found that a person was not safe. You couldn't even be safe from unwanted thoughts within your head, but tomorrow the sun would shine again.

It would shine and smile upon the Hylian Hero again tomorrow and maybe then…maybe then he'd be smiling back.

* * *

See? Was it odd? Didn't I tell you? I warned you didn't I was right, no? - Please review, it would make me smile!

Off to work on my other fics (if I don't get distracted) TTFN (ta ta for now) :scuttles away:


End file.
